Investigation into the murder of a taxi driver, whose body was found in Bajghera ravine, revealed that the January 15 attack on his life was the second attempt to kill him. His wife, who was the main conspirator and among the seven people arrested for his murder on Monday, had first planned to kill the man in his sleep on January 10, the police said, adding that the plan failed when the 36-year-old came home late from work and failed to doze off till the wee hours of the morning.

His insomnia gave Jogender five more days to live, a police officer privy to the case said.

On Tuesday police said Sweety, 24, a homemaker who suspected her husband of having an extra marital affair and feared that he would transfer all their property to his lover, took two months to plan the murder.

Police said she roped in her friend, her husband and their relatives by promising them Rs 16 lakh as contract fee. When the group was not convinced that she would cough up Rs 16 lakh, she promised to pay them by selling the same property she feared her husband would give away.

“She lobbied with her friend Kamlesh and her husband, Kanhaiya. Kanhaiya and his wife convinced their relatives to help by offering a share of the proceeds. But the group was sceptical of her capacity to pay,” said a police officer privy to the investigation. He added that Sweety convinced them by giving Rs 25,000 cash, earrings and gold chain as token. She even said they could go to the police if she reneged after the crime, the police said.

On Tuesday, interrogation of the accused helped police recover Sweety’s jewellery, canter used to dispose the body and the weapons used in the crime. “We have recovered the wrench, the steel rod and a country-made pistol. The accused said the gun was procured from Meerut in UP. The canter was parked near a private nursery school in Askok Vihar and the motorcycle was found in the bushes some 150 yards from the ravine in which Jogender’s body was thrown,” Sector 5 SHO Sumit Kumar said.

Police said Sweety took inspiration from a late night crime show on TV for the crime, a charge denied by SHO Kumar.

On Sunday, Jogender’s body was found from a ravine , four days after he was reported missing from his house in Sheetla Mata Colony. Seven persons, including his wife, had allegedly attacked Jogender and when he resisted an accused pointed a gun at him and smothered him. The accused wrapped his body in a quilt and carried it on a motorcycle to the ravine, the police said.

First Published: Jan 23, 2019 13:14 IST